Jin Restaurant

I’ve been to Jin before and found the food OK. This time I wanted to see how the Korean BBQ was. Flavour-​wise it was OK, not the best I’ve had definitely, but not the worst. The quality of the beef however was quite bad I have to say, very tough and stringy.
I wouldn’t go back for the BBQ but the other food doesn’t seem too bad, if a bit overpriced compared to other Korean restaurants.

Boyfriend, friend and I were wandering Soho for a good Japanese restaurant but I spotted this and having spent time in Korea suddenly had a massive pang for Korean food. Luckily, Jin does Korean and Japanese so everyone was happy!
The restaurant had bona fide East Asian diners which I thought was a good sign and I bumped into one of the chefs who didn’t speak a word of English so I was happy!
I had a Hite beer which I haven’t had since 2008 which also made me very happy. They also brought ban, little plates of nibbles, just as they do in Korea before the food was brought out which made me smile.
I had mandu-​guk which is a pork dumpling soup, one of my favourites when I was there. It was lovely, huge, tasty and fresh. Boyfriend had hot pot bibimbap (rice, meat, veg, egg with spicy-​ish sauce all mixed together) and friend had normal bibimbap (not in a hot pot) which they enjoyed as their first foray into Korean food. The sushi we ordered was lovely as well, and very well priced. No bbq at the table in this occasion but I will be trying theirs at some point in the future.
I thought this place was great and we paid about 11.00 each I think. I will be going back!

When I had the pleasure of going to Jin, the food was mediocre and as I was eating, a cockroach crawled up through the in-​table bbq and pranced across the table. He finally crawled back in, and I attempted to ignore the situation until a pair of antennae poked out and waggled at me, as if laughing. I put an upside-​down plate over the hole, and mentally teleported to my safe space. Ignoring the cockroach situation, the food was still pretty bad.
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I really fancied Korean Barbecue and in Soho to my knowledge there are only two Korean Restaurants to choose from.
There is a larger one on Greek or Frith (cannot remember) and Jin. I chose Jin as the other one required that there is a minimum of two ordering from the barbecue part of the menu.
Jin is a small restaurant which has only about 10 tables. It is tucked away on the side street joining Dean with Frith Street. With so many restaurants to choose from I wish I had gone elsewhere.
I had the marinated beef barbecue which was absolutely crap. The quality of the meat was poor, the dish was small and the flavour was ok. But at 9.00 I would have expected something much bigger and better quality meat.
I accompanied this with a bowl of boiled rice 3.00 which was again served in a bowl the size of a small cup. Since this was the only rice on the menu I had no choice.
The Jasmine tea was weak, when I poured it it looked like hot water and did not change after 10 minutes of what you would have hoped had brewed by then.
Now the service was really good and very friendly. But I thought the barbecue was really AWFUL, low quality and definitely over priced. I will not be going back here again!

Jin Restaurant is a modern looking Korean. The restaurant is placed on a side street to Wardour Street. I had such a good time there and always wanted to go back, but somehow I always get lost in all those streets in Soho, so make sure you look it up before you leave the house — its Barete Street!
The first thing I noticed entering the white front of the Korean was lots of Korean speaking big dinner parties. If the Koreans themselves think this is the place to go, it is certainly good enough for me.
I ordered a beer, as I think it goes nice with the food while my friends ordered a bottle of white wine. Traditional dishes I can recommend highly are: Kimchi/​Bulgogi/​Bibimbap. The place is very narrow but goes a long way to the back. It can be booked for parties up to 50 people. The BBQ placed in the middle of the table is a great experience, which not a lot European know about. You can have vegetables, fish and meat cooked on it. They use sunflower oil for the grill. It prevent your clothes to smell like after a summer BBQ party.
This place is fun, young, modern and has excellent food!